


Kite's Garden & Supply

by boxocats



Category: Hunter X Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Flower Shop, F/M, Short & Sweet, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-14
Updated: 2017-02-14
Packaged: 2018-09-24 05:13:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9704636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boxocats/pseuds/boxocats
Summary: "Love is the flower you've got to let grow." - John Lennon





	

**Author's Note:**

> A/N, Neferpitou is gender ambiguous but to make things simpler, they are portrayed as a female in this work.

Kite sprayed down the screening shrubs outside one last time before he closed up for the night. The daytime sun had been very sultry and harsh as of recent, so they required the extra watering.

The moon was rising and the shopping crowd grew more and more idle.

As he went back inside, he thought about the possibility of hanging up his dirty work apron and just closing the store early, but he remembered one last task he had to conclude - the bags of garden soil that had been delivered yesterday weren't going to stock themselves. He went into the back room and began unloading them, until he heard the store's front door swing open, surprising him. 

It was very rare for someone to come around right before closing time. During weekends, maybe, but it was only a Tuesday. 

"Hello, how can I..." He peeked out, and no one seemed to be there, even though he heard and detected movement. "Er... hello?"

"Mnnnn. Mnnn. Mnnn! Mnn..." 

"Hello?!" Kite began to worry and headed towards the strange mumbling sounds he heard; worst case scenario, it was a person on the floor having a stroke or heart attack, desperately looking for someone to help somewhere. 

All of a sudden, a voice - shrill and feminine - stopped him. "I'm sorry! I couldn't talk, my mouth was full..."

He turned around and saw a lady with a large hat, kneeled way down on the floor in front of the row of plants on the bottom shelf, and seemed to be... chewing on them.

"A-Ah..." Kite breathed a sigh of relief after seeing that she was conscious. "Miss, may I ask you... why are you... eating my plants?"

“These aren’t the free samples?” Her eyes widened, and little shreddings of the plant fluttered down from her lips onto the floor as her mouth gaped open. “Oh no… I’m so sorry… “I-I’ll be good and pay for them! Please, don’t get onto me.”

This was either some sort of joke, or this woman was just very strange. 

“It’s no big deal… I can just clip off the parts you chewed on. Er…” Kite stared at her for a minute or two, speechless. She was very cute, but visibly distressed. “Can I ask you something? I’m afraid you didn’t answer me before. Why were you eating my plants?”

“Oh… it’s just a bad habit of mine…” she uttered under her breath, twiddling her thumbs. “I’m so ashamed. I’ve been doing it since I was a little child… I still can’t seem to stop…” 

“Ah…?”

“I’m leaving your store! Don’t worry, you won’t see me again…” she turned around promptly to exit, but something long and... furry had suddenly protruded out of the back of the maxi skirt she was wearing. “Eeee~eeeep…” 

“Miss…! Your… your tail?”

Her face turned scarlet as she hurriedly turned to try and tuck her tail back in. “Hehehe, this is just for a… you see, uuumm…” While doing so, however, her hat had tilted and fell off, revealing a duo of cute and twitchy cat ears on her head. “Eeeee~eeeep....!!” 

“I... didn’t realize you were literally a… cat person,” Kite remarked as he watched the woman fumble around helplessly. “This explains your weird plant obsession then.”

"Now you've seen the uncanny side of me! I am not a human like you once thought!" She glanced down, gripping tightly onto the rim of her hat. "Please, don't call the police."

"Calm down. I'm not."

"You... are not afraid of me?"

"You're in no way trying to harm me, so why would I be?" Kite warmly and reassuringly smiled at her. "I think I have just the thing for you, since you're here."

“Huh? You mean to eat?” she relaxed as her ears perked up. “It’s okay?”

“I don’t want you to be ashamed of eating plants, especially now since you seem to have been born with feline traits. It’s what you do, after all… right?” 

She began to flush. No one has ever treated her with such dignity, such kindness, once they learned who she really was under those excessive layers of clothes.

“Yeah. Follow me and I can show you the plants that I always recommend to cat owners.” The woman happily obliged, following Kite very closely as they circled around the store. “We have a large range of herbs and grasses,” he said, and pointed out a certain plant in particular. “Take a look at this ribbon plant. It has very long stems, so it should last you awhile.”

“Do you have anything that blooms?” 

“The ribbon plant can bloom small white flowers on occasion.”

"Mmm, but I want something that will always bloom for sure. And fast! And something that's very colorful. It... well, it adds to the flavor, you know..."

"Yes, I understand. I have some zinnias and gerber daisies on sale over here." Kite presented her a table full of zinnias in dark red, orange, and yellow colors, and another of gerber daisies in various pinks. He picked up a pot of the dark red zinnias and smiled, "These are especially pretty, I think. They remind me of your eyes."

"My eyes?" 

"I know that's a little silly to say. But I like your eyes."

The woman froze, and pondered. She was also positive that her face suddenly turned to a shade very close to the pink gerber daisies, and immediately turned because she couldn't let Kite take notice. 

"Now, I can't tell you anything about taste, but..."

She spoke up meekly, trying not to seem like she was interrupting him. "You said you thought they were pretty?" Her face was still averted.

"Yes. The zinnias are my favorite."

"Then... I want them." 

Kite was pleasantly surprised she made a swift decision. "Ah. Okay. The dark red?"

"Yes, please. And I want several."

"If that's the case, I'll check you out." As he walked over to the check-out counter, he noticed behind him that the woman was thoroughly reading the care instructions on the tag. 

"Um... can I... also buy some soil? And some gardening gloves..." she spun around to gander at all the gardening items around her. "A spade, and a watering can..."

"I thought you were going to eat these. You're going to grow them out more first?"

"Yes, I want to have a whole garden of zinnias! Because you said they were your favorite... they're my favorite, too, so I want to grow some for both of us."

"Well... thank you. You're just a bit too kind. I'll tell you everything you need to know about starting a garden."

"Please tell me your name."

"My name is Kite."

"Oh, of course. You must own the store... I'm Neferpitou." she promptly bowed, soil from the potted flowers spilling out and crumbling onto the floor. "Thank you! Thank you so much for accepting me for who I am... I'm still going to try and break my plant eating habit, so that my… no, our garden can grow.” 

"I like you, Neferpitou. You seem to be the one that's easily inspired. Perfect for an aspiring greenthumb."

By now, it had been way past time for Kite to lock up and go home. But he stayed to tell and teach Neferpitou everything there was to know.

**Author's Note:**

> This was just something dumb I wanted to submit for Valentine's day!! Need that daily dosage of Pitokai (´∀｀)


End file.
